Ryanair named Britain's 'dirtiest' airline by Which?

'Greasy tray tables and soiled headrests': Ryanair named UK's dirtiest airline
'Greasy tray tables and soiled headrests': Ryanair named UK's dirtiest airline

The consumer watchdog, Which?, has named and shamed some of the filthiest flight operators in the UK - and the findings will leave you packing anti-bacterial wipes on your next holiday.

According to the Independent, the survey discovered that less than half of Ryanair passengers (42%) rated the firm for the cleanliness of its aircraft, with the consumer service finding it was "significantly worse" that other airlines.

Messy Dirty Airplane Passenger Seat Pocket, Trash, Banana Peel, Blanket
Messy Dirty Airplane Passenger Seat Pocket, Trash, Banana Peel, Blanket

A further 24% of passengers out of 1,161 surveyed, thought that onboard hygiene was "poor".

Which? conducted the survey in September and October 2018 and interviewed 8,000 people, to come up with a list of the dirtiest airlines and passenger gripes.

Some of passengers' bugbears included grubby tray tables, wet and sticky toilet floors and filthy headrests.

Investigators from Which? backed up the findings - using ultra-violent lights to uncover unseen greasy trays and soiled seats, that would otherwise be invisible.

Which? Travel editor, Rory Boland, told the Independent: "Faster and faster turnarounds are one thing but it is unacceptable for some airlines to be cutting corners when it comes to cleaning out their cabins properly – no matter how cheap the airline ticket".

Air New Zealand
Air New Zealand

At the top end of the list, British Airways and easyJet were found to have scored highly for their onboard cleanliness. The survey found that 81% of passengers rated the hygiene standards across 42 airlines worldwide as "good".

But it was the non-budget operators, Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines that led the field, with 97% and 94% respectively, giving them the thumbs up for clean cabins.

Emirates (95%), Qatar Airways (95%), Cathay Pacific (94%) and Swiss (94%) completed the top six airlines for cleanliness.

Want to know more? HuffingtonPost have a detailed breakdown of the findings.

Advertisement